Highlights from Education at a Glance

Centre for Educational Research and Innovation

Highlights fromEducation at a Glance offers a reader-friendly introduction to the OECD’s collection of internationally comparable data on education. As the name suggests, it is derived from Education at a Glance, the OECD’s flagship compendium of education statistics. However, it differs from that publication in a number of ways, most significantly in its structure, which is made up of five sections that explore the following topics: education levels and student numbers;the economic benefits of education; paying for education; the school environment; and TALIS, OECD's internationally comparative data on conditions of teaching and learning.

In general, this publication uses the same terminology employed in Education at a Glance. However, in one or two places terminology has been simplified. Readers who wish to find out more should consult the Reader’s Guide. Tables and charts in this volume are all accompanied by a dynamic hyperlink, or StatLink, that will direct readers to an Internet site where the corresponding data are available in Excel® format.

Education at a Glance 2014: Highlights summarises the OECD’s flagship compendium of education statistics, Education at a Glance. It provides easily accessible data on key topics in education today, including:
• Education levels and student numbers: How far have adults studied, and how does early childhood education affect student performance later on?
• Higher education and work: How many young people graduate from tertiary education, and how easily do they enter the world of work?
• Economic and social benefits of education: How does education affect people’s job prospects, and what is its impact on incomes?
• Paying for education: What share of public spending goes on education, and what is the role of private spending?
• The school environment: How many hours do teachers work, and how does class size vary?

Each indicator is presented on a two-page spread. The left-hand page explains the significance of the indicator, discusses the main findings, examines key trends and provides readers with a roadmap for finding out more in the OECD education databases and in other OECD education publications. The right-hand page contains clearly presented charts and tables, accompanied by dynamic hyperlinks (StatLinks) that direct readers to the corresponding data in Excel™ format.

Access to education continues to expand and the proportion of adults who are highly skilled in literacy, continues to grow; but socio-economic divisions are deepening, because the impact of education and skills on individuals’ life chances has strengthened considerably.

On average 84% of today’s young people in OECD countries are expected to complete upper secondary education over their lifetimes, based on current patterns of graduation. For G20 countries, the level is 80%.

More than 4.5 million students are enrolled in university-level education outside their home country. Australia, Austria, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom have the highest proportion of international students as a percentage of their total tertiary enrolments.

People invest about USD 50 000 to obtain a tertiary degree in OECD countries, but men can expect to earn USD 350 000 more in their lifetime than those with an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education, and women USD 250 000 more.

Tuition fees vary widely in OECD countries. Universities charge more than USD 1 500 in tuition fees for national students enrolled in public institutions in their own country in a third of the 26 OECD countries with available data; while in eight countries they pay nothing.

Salaries for teachers in OECD countries with at least 15 years of experience average USD 37 350 at the pre-primary level, USD 39 024 at the primary level, USD 40 570 at the lower secondary level and USD 42 861 at the upper secondary level.

Public-school teachers teach an average of 1 001 hours per year at the pre-primary level, 782 hours at the primary level, 694 hours at the lower secondary level and 655 hours at the upper secondary level of education.

Although a lack of data still limits the scope of the indicators in many countries, the coverage extends, in principle, to the entire national education system (within the national territory) regardless of the ownership or sponsorship of the institutions concerned and regardless of education delivery mechanisms. With one exception described below, all types of students and all age groups are meant to be included: children (including students with special needs), adults, nationals, foreigners, as well as students in open distance learning, in special education programmes or in educational programmes organised by ministries other than the Ministry of Education, provided the main aim of the programme is the educational development of the individual. However, vocational and technical training in the workplace, with the exception of combined school and work-based programmes that are explicitly deemed to be parts of the education system, is not included in the basic education expenditure and enrolment data.

Adult education: Adult education corresponds to formal and/or non-formal education and training. Formal education and training is defined as planned education provided in the system of schools, colleges, universities and other formal educational institutions, and which normally constitutes a continuous ladder of full-time education for children and young people. Non-formal education and training is defined as a sustained educational activity that does not correspond exactly to the above definition of formal education.

Launched in 1997 by the OECD, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international study which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. To date, students representing more than 70 countries and economies have participated in the assessment.